It might be Bridget Carleton’s time to break out as a WNBA star

The time for Bridget Carleton to break out may be right around the corner, due to her performance at the Basketball World Cup and recent play in Spain.

Bridget Carleton is currently providing consistent performances in Spain for Perfumerias Avenida Salamanca. Her output only improves when they compete in Euroleague games, with her Euroleague debut seeing her cash in on 5-of-7 3-point attempts en route to a 22-point win.

Wind back a couple of months to the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup and she earned an All-Star Five selection for her play throughout the tournament. During her World Cup campaign, she had a 27-point outburst, going 7-of-8 from deep and accompanying this scoring with 8 rebounds and 3 assists. She led Canada to a medal match but Lauren Jackson wound back the clock, dropping 30 which ended up being the margin of victory for host nation Australia.

Bridget Carleton is one of the best shooters on the WNBA free-agent market

She is currently a restricted free agent for the Minnesota Lynx, where she has spent the last three seasons. In 2020 she was red hot, hitting on 46 percent of her 3-point attempts and 52 percent on all field goals. Bridget saw quite a steady role within the team, starting in nearly 70 percent of her games and getting around 30 minutes per start.

The past two seasons have seen her receive more inconsistent minutes, with the odd start here and there. That’s no way to get a player into their rhythm and it sure is a way to get a player out of it.

Regardless of where she has sat in a rotation for whatever basketball club at whatever juncture of her career, the thing that sets Carleton apart is that ubiquitous smile. She brings energy onto the court sharing it with her teammates and allowing them to enjoy the game. I asked her if this smiling had always been the case when she played basketball.

“It has been, people tell me that a lot,” said Carleton. “I blame it partly on my mouthguard but I do have normally a smiley face and I guess I love the game but also I think it’s just my face.”

Carleton’s ability to retain her personality and bring it into the game of basketball is the most positive example of not compromising I’ve ever seen. And she’s been able to manage that through the highs and lows, bringing energy at every opportunity.

“I think it’s important. I pride myself on just staying steady, you know, there’s gonna be highs there’s gonna be lows throughout my career, throughout a season, throughout games, throughout quarters, so keeping that steady attitude, never too high never too low, I pride myself on that and just always being that steady, calm personality on the team.”

That mindset is imperative for a team that’s about to traverse into the wilderness. With the departure of Sylvia Fowles, Minnesota is turning a new page in their team’s history. There will be a few unknowns moving forward so the front office would be sure to retain as much of what they do know moving forward.

Bridget Carleton is a selfless teammate whose game is getting more versatile by the day and due to her experience in the WNBA, overseas and leading Canada, she provides a resume that’s deserving of a starting role. Throughout the World Cup, her smile would crack any time her defender would press up on her.

“I know when someone’s in me and I still have my dribble that I’m gonna be able to make a move. It’s gonna be nothing special just two hard dribbles and hopefully get to a pull-up or get to the rim, but, you know, people respect me as a shooter so I have to be able to do a little bit more than just catch and shoot three’s and yeah.”

Her game is developing exponentially. She’s a shooter turned scorer who has the occasional big game on the glass. As her scoring ability progresses, her personality and zest for the game would lead me to assume that a playmaking ability would be following soon after.

If the Lynx have lost their minds and don’t offer Carleton a contract ahead of the upcoming season there will be plenty of suitors.